Expressions
by Quezacolt
Summary: “If you had known I was a Wraith, would you have trusted me? You judge us as you hate to be judged. In some ways, I’m glad I’m not human.”


Title: Expressions

Summary: "If you had known I was a Wraith, would you have trusted me? You judge us as you hate to be judged. In some ways, I'm glad I'm not human."

A/N: To celebrate my new found photo shop obsession, and my new LJ layout, I bring a Sparky fic.

* * *

You stare at us in defiance. We have your weapons. Your lives are in our clawed hands. Around me, my fellow Wraith shift uncomfortably. By the look on your faces, you expect them to leap at my order and suck the soul from your bodies. 

Maybe your right.

Maybe we would like nothing better then to drain you of your life and continue on to lead our lives. But we don't. We don't want to be like the others. A will to be human corrupted by years of taking human lives. They are murderers, no matter what perspective is taken, and I won't be like them.

I will be free.

* * *

John yawned, his hand coming over his mouth and his eyes closing slightly as he tried not to make a sound, leaning back on his chair and blinking sleepily as he straightened back up again and took a minute to take in the appearance of his team, minus McKay, and Elizabeth, all sitting in their respective chairs at the briefing room table looking bored and impatient. McKay's "I'll be there in five minutes" turned out the be a good half hour and even Elizabeth, most known for her seemingly unending patience and compassion was beginning to look annoyed. 

As a reaction to John's yawn, hers quickly follows and John smirked, watching Teyla's eyes slump slightly as she too yawned, going around the table until it reached a cold, dead stop with Ronan, sitting stock still in his chair, eating a sandwich nosily and with a predatory gleam in his eye.

John raised an eyebrow, about to make a flippant comment, when the missing member of his team rushed through the open door, files and notes piled in his hands, and what looked suspiciously like strawberry jam smudged slightly across Rodney's nose.

"About time." John said, straightening in his chair and eyeing McKay with suspicion. "Where have you been?"

McKay visibly swallowed slightly, before looking around the room and pulling out one of his notes.

"Naquada research. I was hoping to interface the raw Naquadria found by SG-1 on Kelonowa with the Stargate, creating a charge that makes temporary interference in the line of subspace and can recharge a depleted ZPM. Highly volatile, if I had left any earlier I could have blown up the entire of Atlantis."

"Yes." Said John snidely, as Rodney's eyes caught attention of Ronan, "Because those Strawberry donuts can't be trusted."

McKay looked at him with one eyebrow raised, clearly not realised the jam was smeared across his cheek, when Teyla pointed it out, oblivious to the obvious.

"Doctor McKay. You seem to have some substance on your cheek. Do you require a hazmat team?"

Rodney looked up, before wiping his face with his sleeve and turning red as his hand came away covered in jam.

"Oh. No it's okay Teyla. It was from lunch."

Rodney coughed slightly then, before Elizabeth stepped in, interrupting what could have escalated to a match of insults.

"Let's keep focused please. Now, what is this good news I hear about this new ally?" John recognized her question instantly, they all did. They had just returned from a recon mission a day before that caught all of their attention. A world with technology more advanced then Earth. Perhaps even a rival to Atlantis. But the people, unlike Earth with billions of people packed in all over, had barely a hundred as their entire population.

Their host, Athena, had taken them around the town, introducing them to various townsfolk. It was clear that the town was more into meditation and peace then helping the Atlantians to destroying the Wraith, but still John had high hope for the people.

Athena had told them all on their tour of the only town about their darkened past, their former world and people falling into over confidence and taking nearby worlds to war in attempts to build up an empire. Her people, soon after Athena and the people against the war movement had left, had taken to war a people more powerful then themselves, and as a result were destroyed, leaving the small people as the only remainders to a once peaceful people.

"They're worried we will destroy ourselves," John began, pulling himself back to the present. "But we've been with them for a while and they seem peaceful enough. They still think were from a colony that was built by the survivors of the Wraith attack on Atlantis. In fact they offered to take us in if we ever need to relocate. Nice people."

Elizabeth visibly bit her lip slightly.

"Okay, Teyla, any reason we shouldn't trust them?"

"I am familiar only a little with their people. They barely leave their planet, mostly self sufficient with everything supplied on their large land. I believe from what I know of them, they are honorable and mostly keep to themselves."

"They have something to hide." The flippant comment by Ronan turned all of their heads in his direction.

"Ronan?" Elizabeth said as he continued to eat. Ronan shrugged before John sighed.

"She means elaborate Ronan."

Ronan looked up.

"Oh. Well, they're just too alone. No one wants to be alone. They're hiding something big, I can tell."

John shook his head slightly.

"Well, with that cleared up, I suggest we get a negotiator over there to get us some space guns."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Who do your suggest?"

John grinned and clapped his hands together.

"There's only one I would trust with my negotiating Elizabeth. Anyway, if they turn out the be untrustworthy and have something like a shoe fetish, I can always send you back, shoes in tact."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes slightly.

"Thanks." Seeing Teyla's confused look, Elizabeth blinked slightly, "Uh, that's it. We leave at 0800."

As everyone collected their belongings to leave, Teyla stood slowly and turned to Elizabeth.

"Doctor Weir? What is a 'fetish'?"

Elizabeth frowned.

"Like an obsession with something."

Teyla nodded.

"Oh. So are these "Shoe Fetishes" common on your planet?"

Elizabeth blinked.

* * *

As true to military time, Elizabeth arrived to the Gateroom on time and in uniform, the bulky vest making her shift uncomfortably, but still eyeing the main team, each member wearing the vest like a second skin jealously. 

The Stargate splashed out in front of the group as McKay picked his way to the event horizon, driving the M.A.L.P forward carrying scientific equipment he deemed necessary. Elizabeth stood with John, watching the team walk through the horizon she had not traveled through as often as she would have liked, before the Colonel turned to her and smiled.

"Ready to go?"

She nodded, as together they walked to yet another world, each hoping this one would not turn out to be another unfriendly place to add to their seemingly very long list.

- - -

The bullets exploded the trees as John pulled Elizabeth behind him, the Wraith closing in around them. How could they have been so wrong? The world had so much potential. They had just arrived to the planet when everything began to go sour. Something was happening in town, an argument. Athena saw the group and kept them away. She told them someone had decided to leave, they had been betrayed and as a result the Wraith were on their way to claim the people as their own.

Elizabeth had automatically offered to help. To relocate their people to Atlantis. To defend their world with Puddle Jumpers. It didn't take Athena long to work out Atlantis was still very much in one piece. She nodded and said in a monotone that they had both been hiding secrets, but before she could elaborate, the Wraith ships could be seen in the far out horizons, bearing down on the town, blocking out the sunlight and bathing the world in darkness. Elizabeth was pushed back toward the Stargate, but there was no need. She had barely taken three steps when Wraith beamed down. Everything was thrown into silence as Elizabeth was pressed against John's back.

The Wraith took one look at Elizabeth's group before turning away, and that surprised her more then anything. Athena stepped forward, her brown eyes flashing, her brown hair waving behind her and giving her the appearance of a god.

"Leave this place." Her words were calm, but menacing, and Elizabeth suddenly realised they knew absolutely nothing about these people.

The head Wraith cocked his head to the side, before hissing loudly under his venomous breath;

"You are not worthy to stay in this existence."

Athena was screaming, and it wasn't until Elizabeth drew her eyes to the Wraith holding what looked like Ronan's stunners in direction of the people that their forms began to change, and Elizabeth realised what they had been so desperate to hide.

Their human forms flickered and vanished, instead replacing them the nightmarish faces of more Wraith. John's breath hitched.

"It's a trap."

Athena or what was Athena, spared them no glance as the townsfolk turned Wraith around her charged, the battle raging . John began to pull Elizabeth into the trees, Teyla, Ronan and McKay close behind. After a long run, branches cutting into their faces, they were at the Stargate, only to find it was gone. They searched, feeling hysterical, wanting to see Atlantis more then ever, when breaking brambles announced the arrival of the Wraith, most likely to capture them for a future meal, when John pulled everyone but Ronan behind him.

"I'm not going to hurt you." The Wraith stepped from the trees, her bluish hair whipping behind her, as John recognized her eyes instantly. "The Wraith who attacked us have been fought off. We will have to relocate our people."

"Athena." He said suspiciously, "Or whatever your real name is."

The female Wraith nodded.

"I did not mean to lie to you. You must understand we did not mean for things to turn out this way."

"Where's the Stargate?" Ronan asked, his stunner pointed toward her, his face twisted in distaste.

"It was a hologram, as was our human forms. When we arrived at this planet, unhappy with our brethrens seemingly uncaring for destroying human lives, we decided to live separately. We used Wraith technology only to keep out holograms real, not just to protect us from other Wraith, but to let us indulge in humanity. We let other humans believe we were like them, and as a result we made good friends. We were born Wraith. But in our souls, we are human."

John scowled.

"Fine. If you think your humans, sure. But you lied to us."

Athena glared as well.

"As did you! We did nothing when we realised you had lied to us about living in Atlantis! It was not destroyed, yet we told no one because we believed we could still be allies."

"We know the Wraith!" Ronan growled, "You can't eat anything but humans. Don't even try to deny it."

Athena visibly calmed, eyeing her clawed hand with obvious distaste.

"It is true our kind is capable of only eating off human physiology. But it is also true that thanks to a man we greatly respect, we no longer require to eat humans. Many years ago, long before I and all here were born, a man walked among our dying civilization. Our past generations had tried to live free, only to find without humans they we're dying. Weak, many of them left, weeding out in more ways then one the ones who could not stick to their resolve. They lay dying when the man came through the gate, and through him, a solution. We spent days tending to us. He was unlike others, he was what everyone called an ancient. He told us he was forbidden from returning to Atlantis for his experiments. His only wish was to live out his life with us. He managed to bring us something being worked on by his kind. A vaccination of sorts that if taken once a day, would be equal as to taking a humans life, without any of them ingredients including humanity. He was our savior, and although our lifespan has been lessened to those of two hundred years due to the eventual corruptive nature of the vaccine, we are content. We lead full lives."

"Where is this man?" Teyla asked, curiosity overtaken her hesitation as she let go of where she was holding Elizabeth's arm and stepping around Ronan.

"He died shortly after I was born, but he continues to live today in our hearts. He taught us how to make the vaccine. We may look like the same as the ones you battle with for your lives, but we are not human, but we are not Wraith either."

John nodded.

"Yeah, well sorry if I don't take your word for it. If you would mind showing us the way to the gate, we'll be leaving…"

Athena kicked the ground and spat, as John looked back in shock.

"If you had known I was a Wraith, would you have trusted me? You judge us as you hate to be judged. In some ways, I'm glad I'm not human."

She said the last piece with venom, before waving her hand as the Stargate materialized behind them, and Athena fell back into her human hallucination.

Elizabeth stepped out, her hands shaking ever so slightly.

"I'm sorry we're not the people you wish us to be. I hope one day in the future…"

Athena nodded, her face showing a ghost of a smile.

"I hope so too Doctor Weir. I am sorry for you also, I understand why you do not trust us. We are not the allies you wished for as well. One day in the future we will prove what needs to be proved. Until then, I can only work on keeping my people safe. Good-bye."

Athena turned and walked back into the darkened trees, her white dress flowing behind her as the Atlantians watched.

"Dial up the gate McKay." Sheppard said in almost a whisper. Rodney didn't argue, Ronan and Teyla went to help, leaving Elizabeth and John relatively alone.

"I hope we just made the right decision." Elizabeth said quietly in a sigh. John grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"I have a good feeling about this," He whispered, "It won't be the last time we see them. Maybe during our spare time we can even work on making something to make Wraith revert back into humans."

Elizabeth smiled slightly.

"Yeah, I hope so."

The walked through the event horizon, unaware they were still holding hands.

* * *

A/N: I was thinking of making a sequel about after the entire "Carson can turn Wraith into Humans" thing. Tell me what you think. 


End file.
